Which Henau glasses fit you: every model we stock by eye size

Henau is a Belgian eyewear brand, designed in Belgium by Marc Delagrange, an optician, and made in France. Every Henau frame on this page is acetate. The range we stock runs from a 46mm eye to a 58mm eye, at $590 or $690 a frame.

That is the short version for anyone searching for Henau glasses or Henau frames. Here is what an optician sees on the tray. The small end of the range is round: the Triono (46-20-145, 112mm across), the Mucha (46-22-145, 114mm across) and the Triton (46-19-140, 111mm across). The Odorono (47-23-145, 117mm across) is the model we hold in the most colours, five of them. The wide end is geometric: the Hector at 53mm, the Lanika at 55mm and the Timmy at 58mm.

Two things stand out. The bridges are wide for the eye size: 20mm and 22mm on a 46mm eye, where many round frames sit at 18mm or 19mm. That is why this brand fits some faces that other narrow frames do not. And the lens depths vary more than the widths do, from 34mm on the Callas to 49mm on the Lanika, which matters if you wear a progressive lens.

We hold 31 frames across 21 models. This guide goes through them by eye size, because eye size is the first number that decides whether a frame will fit. The stock list on this page shows every frame with its measurements and its price.

If you are here for Henau eyewear for a narrow face, the 46mm models are three chapters down. Read the rest as our review of the range, frame by frame, as it sits on the tray.

Each frame on this page is listed with three numbers, written as 47-23-145 for the Odorono. The first is the eye size: the width of one lens, in millimetres. The second is the bridge: the gap between the two lenses at their closest point. The third is the temple: the length of the arm from the hinge to the tip.

We also give a fourth figure, the width across the front. It is two eye sizes plus the bridge. The Odorono at 47-23 is 117mm across. The Timmy at 58-15 is 131mm across. The across figure is the one to compare with a frame you already own and like. Measure your own frame from the outer edge of one lens to the outer edge of the other, and you have a number to match.

The eye size tells you how wide the lens is. The bridge tells you how far apart the lenses sit, and that decides where the frame rests on your nose. Two frames with nearly the same width across can fit very differently. The Mucha at 46-22 is 114mm across. The Hexagono at 48-17 is 113mm across. One millimetre apart in width, and they suit different noses. The next two chapters go into why.

Temple length matters less than people think. A 140mm temple and a 145mm temple both reach the ear on most adult heads. The difference is how much of the arm curls behind the ear, and an optician sets that curl with gentle heat. The stock list also gives lens height, the depth of the lens from top rim to bottom rim. That number decides which frames can take a progressive lens, and it has its own chapter below.

Three models sit at 46mm, all of them round and all of them $590. The Triono (46-20-145, 112mm across) comes in Slate Blue and Red. The Mucha (46-22-145, 114mm across) comes in Grey and Yellow. The Triton (46-19-140, 111mm across) comes in Slate Blue. Between them they cover the narrowest faces we fit, and they differ from each other mainly in the bridge.

Two things about a nose decide which bridge fits. The first is width: how wide the nose is at the point where the frame rests. The second is height: how far the nose stands out from the face. Width decides the bridge number. Height decides where on the nose the frame settles, and so where that width is measured.

A small face often brings a small nose with it: short, and not standing far out from the face. On that nose a frame does not sit high up near the eyes. It settles lower, and lower down every nose is wider. So the bridge that fits a small nose is usually wider than you would guess from the size of the face. That is why the Mucha's 22mm bridge on a 46mm eye is not a mismatch. It sits low, rests along the sides of the nose where there is something to rest on, and stays put. A 17mm bridge on the same nose would sit up where the nose is thin, find little to hold, and slide until the lower rims reached the cheeks.

The Triton at 19mm is for the other kind of narrow face: a nose that is thin across and stands well out. There the frame can sit high, and a narrower bridge holds it there. The Triono at 20mm sits between the two. If you are not sure which nose you have, the Triono is the safer first try, and its 40mm lens height gives a progressive lens more room than the Triton's 37mm.

Nine models sit at 47 or 48mm, and the bridges run from 17mm to 23mm. That is a wide spread for one eye size, and it is the most useful part of the range, because it lets you hold the lens width steady and choose the bridge for your nose. Across the front, these frames run from 113mm to 118mm.

At 17mm are the Hexagono (48-17-145, 113mm across, Green Crystal, $690) and the Chloe (48-17-140, 113mm across, Indigo, $590). A 17mm bridge is for a nose that is thin across and stands well out from the face. It sits high and holds. On a wide nose the same bridge perches at the top, pinches, leaves a mark on each side and sets the lenses too high in front of the eyes.

At 19mm are the Gluck (48-19-140, 115mm across, Matte Green, $590) and the Glenn (48-19-140, 115mm across, Coral Red or Sky Blue, $590). This is the middle bridge, and it is where most noses land. If you have never had a problem with a frame sliding or pinching, start here.

At 21mm are the Rota (48-21-140, 117mm across, Green Crystal, $590) and the Jota (48-21-140, 117mm across, Blue Tortoise, $590). At 22mm are the Orlono (48-22-145, 118mm across, Crystal or Blue Crystal, $590) and the Lunalus (48-22-145, 118mm across, Grey Horn, $590). At 23mm is the Odorono (47-23-145, 117mm across, five colours, $590 or $690). These wider bridges suit a wide nose, and they also suit the low nose described in the last chapter, the one on which any frame settles down to where the nose is broader. On a nose that is thin across and stands out, a 22mm bridge is wider than the nose at any point the frame can reach. It has nothing to rest on and slides until the lower rims meet the cheeks.

So the rule for this part of the range: thin and high, 17mm; most noses, 19mm; wide or low, 21mm to 23mm.

Lens height is the depth of the lens from the top rim to the bottom rim. Across the Henau frames we stock it runs from 34mm to 49mm, and it splits the range in a way that the eye size does not.

The shallow frames are the Callas at 34mm, the Chloe at 35mm, and the Hexagono and the Triton at 37mm. The middle is crowded: the Gluck and the Glenn at 39mm; the Triono, the Rota, the Jota, the Hector, the Lector, the Victor, the M55 and the Timmy at 40mm; the Odorono at 41mm to 43mm depending on the colour; the Mucha, the Balto and the Orlono at 42mm to 43mm. The deep frames are the Gaga at 45mm, the Lunalus at 47mm and the Lanika at 49mm.

For a single-vision lens, depth is a matter of taste. For a progressive lens it is a matter of room. A progressive puts your distance prescription at the top of the lens and your reading prescription at the bottom, and the change between them needs a set length of lens below your pupil. In most frames the pupil sits a little above the geometric centre of the lens, so the distance from your pupil to the bottom rim is more than half the lens height. On a 40mm lens that gives you roughly 20mm to 22mm to work with, which is enough for almost every progressive design. On a 34mm or 35mm lens it is nearer 17mm to 18mm, which suits only the short-corridor designs, and the reading area will be small.

We do not glaze, so the lens choice is made with the optician who fits your lenses. What we can tell you is which frames give that optician room. From 40mm up, any of them. At 39mm, the Gluck and the Glenn, almost any. At 37mm, most designs will fit. At 34mm and 35mm, ask before you buy. The lens guide covers the rest.

Three models at 51mm are the step from the middle of the range to the wide end. The Balto (51-20-143, 122mm across, Champagne Crystal, $590) is round. The M55 (51-21-140, 123mm across, Brown, $690) is oval. The Victor (51-23-145, 125mm across, Charcoal, $690) is geometric, and its 23mm bridge is the widest in the range at this size.

From 53mm up the bridges turn narrow, and the shapes vary: geometric on the Lector, Hector, Lanika and Timmy, a cat-eye on the Callas, an aviator on the Gaga. The Lector (53-16-145, 122mm across, Grey Horn, $590) and the Hector (53-19-140 or 145, 125mm across, Matte Grey, Matte Burgundy or Olive and Lilac, $590) are the two at 53mm. The Callas (54-16-140, 124mm across, Pink, $690) is a cat-eye. The Gaga (54-17-140, 125mm across, Grey Marble or Black and Tortoise, $690) is an aviator. The Lanika (55-17-150, 127mm across, Sage Havana, $690) is the deepest lens in the range. The Timmy (58-15-140, 131mm across, Tortoise, $690) is the widest.

A wide frame carries more lens and more acetate, so it is heavier, and weight is what makes a frame slide. The narrow bridges on the Timmy, the Callas, the Lector, the Gaga and the Lanika, 15mm to 17mm, are what hold that weight. They sit high on a nose that stands out, where the sides of the nose take the load. A narrow bridge on a big lens does a second job as well. It keeps the centre of each lens closer to your pupil, which keeps the lens thinner at the outer edge.

If your nose is wide, or low, the Victor at 23mm, the M55 at 21mm and the Balto at 20mm are the frames to try first. The Hector at 19mm is the middle choice at 53mm, and the only model at this end of the range we hold in three colours.

Every Henau frame we stock is acetate. Acetate is made as a sheet with the colour running through the whole thickness, so the colour you see on the outside is the colour all the way in. It takes a polish, and it can be adjusted with gentle heat, which is how an optician fits the bridge and the temples to your face after you buy.

The colours in stock fall into a few groups. Crystals: Green Crystal on the Hexagono and the Rota, Champagne Crystal on the Balto, and Crystal and Blue Crystal on the Orlono. Marbles: Blue Marble on the Odorono and Grey Marble on the Gaga. Horns and tortoises: Grey Horn on the Lector and the Lunalus, Tortoise on the Timmy, Blue Tortoise on the Jota, Sage Havana on the Lanika, and Black and Tortoise on the Gaga. Mattes: Matte Green on the Gluck, and Matte Grey and Matte Burgundy on the Hector. Two-tones: Grey and Yellow on the Mucha, and Olive and Lilac on the Hector. Solids: Turquoise, Coral Pink, Cobalt Blue and Coral Red on the Odorono, Coral Red and Sky Blue on the Glenn, Slate Blue on the Triono and the Triton, Red on the Triono, Indigo on the Chloe, Pink on the Callas, Brown on the M55, and Charcoal on the Victor.

One thing to know about a marble or a crystal. A patterned or translucent acetate sheet is not uniform, so two frames in the same colour are alike but not identical. The photograph on the product page shows the colour. It cannot show exactly where the pattern falls on the frame you will receive. A solid colour, a matte or a plain tortoise varies far less. If an exact match to the photograph matters to you, choose from those groups, or come and see the frame.

Numbers get you to a shortlist. A face gets you to a frame. If you are near Arlington or Dumfries, bring the frame you wear now and we will measure it, measure you, and put the two or three Henau frames that fit on your nose. The visit page has the addresses and hours.

If you are buying online, use the stock list on this page. Match the across-the-front figure to your current frame, then pick the bridge for your nose using the chapters above, then check the lens height against the lens you wear. The frame size guide explains how to measure a frame you already own.

Frames ship as frames, without lenses. Shipping within the US is free and insured, and the parcel is signed for. Your own optician fits the lenses; if you are local, the Eye Rx practice can fit them. Returns are accepted within 7 days of delivery, with a 15% restocking fee. Every Henau frame we hold is new and sealed. Questions before you order go through the contact page.